Albion College Library News

Two Historical Databases Added!

2008-01-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks in large part to an FIS grant awarded to Christopher Hagerman (History) and Lanya Lamouria (English), we have been able to purchase these two new databases:

19th Century British Library Newspapers

The 19th Century British Library Newspapers collection contains full runs of 48 newspapers (title list: http://gale.cengage.com/tlist/bl_ncncp.html) specially selected by the British Library to best represent nineteenth century Britain. This new collection includes national and regional newspapers, as well as those from both established country or university towns and the new industrial powerhouses of the manufacturing Midlands, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Special attention was paid to include newspapers that helped lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection.

Newspaper images can be magnified for easier reading or reduced for on screen navigation. You can save and print article images, create persistent links and email them to others. When trying to print entire newspaper pages, you will need to tile them to make them legible given the differing paper size between newsprint and common office paper sizes.

19th Century UK Periodicals - New Readerships: Women’s, Children’s, Humour, and Leisure/Sports

"19th Century UK Periodicals is a database using content from the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and other sources, to make available digitised versions of key 19th Century UK Periodicals. There are five series and each series comprises 1.2 million pages. By making this collection of 19th Century periodicals available and turning it into a high-resolution digital format with searchable images, this database presents online access to a key set of primary sources for the study of 19th century history. For the 96 periodicals selected, every front page, editorial, article, poem, recipe, advertisement and classified ad that appeared within their pages for the time period available will be easily accessible from what is a virtual chronicle of history for this period. Users of the database will be able to search every word on every page."

Database Trial - Aluka Digital Library of African Culture

2007-10-10T13:05:00.000-05:00

Aluka is a not-for-profit collaboration of educational and cultural institutions with a mission to build a collection of scholarly materials from and about Africa.

The Aluka Digital Library includes a wide variety of high-quality scholarly materials contributed by Aluka’s partners, ranging from archival documents, periodicals, books, reports, manuscripts, and reference works, to three-dimensional models, maps, oral histories, plant specimens, photographs, and slides. The African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes database links high-quality visual, contextual, and spatial documentation. The collection includes photographs, 3D models, GIS data, site plans, aerial and satellite photography, images of African rock art, excavation reports, manuscripts, travelers accounts, historical and antiquarian maps, books, articles, and other scholarly research. Highlighted collections include African Plants, African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes, and Struggles for Freedom in Southern Africa. By aggregating these materials online, the Aluka collections link materials that are widely dispersed and difficult to access, opening up new opportunities for research and teaching. One of Aluka’s primary objectives is to provide African scholars and students with access to scholarly materials originally from Africa, but now out of their reach.

For more information about Aluka or to use the collection, please go to www.aluka.org.

Albion College students and faculty can take advantage of free access to Aluka through December 31, 2007.

Database Trial - Black Studies Center

2007-10-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

Black Studies Center is a leading tool that supports research, teaching, and learning in Black Studies, history, literature, political science, sociology, philosophy, and religion.

The Black Studies Center is a digital collection of primary and secondary sources that record and illuminate the Black experience, from ancient Africa through modern times. At its core is Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience™, a series of topical studies that help define the development of Black Studies as an academic field. The Black Studies Center gateway makes it cross-searchable with the historical backfiles of The Chicago Defender, as well as current scholarly journals from International Index to Black Periodicals—Full Text™.

The password is: actrial

The trial ends October 31, 2007.

The Library Adds New Databases!

2007-10-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Through the Library’s affiliation with the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL), we now have access to a number of new online resources, including:

CAMIO: Catalog of Art Images Online - CAMIO is a premiere resource of works of art from around the world contributed and described by leading museums. Showcasing a wide range of fine and decorative art, CAMIO provides high-quality art images for education, research and enjoyment. All content is rights-cleared for educational use. Every work in CAMIO is represented by at least one high-resolution image and a description. Many have additional views of the work, sound, video and curatorial notes.

CINAHL Basic – CINAHL provides indexing for 2,931 journals with 1,000,000 records dating back to 1981, covering nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines. In addition, this database offers indexing to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters. Searchable cited references for more than 1,200 journals are also included. Full text material includes 70 journals plus legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials.

Educator’s Reference Complete - Educator's Reference Complete is a selection of more than 450 full-text academic journals, hundreds of full-text reports, and many premier reference sources. Included content focuses on educational principles, child development and psychology, and best practices in education.

HeritageQuest - Genealogy and local history database which includes all of the images, and extensive indexing, from the 1790 - 1930 U.S. federal censuses. It offers more than 22,000 digitized book titles, including early family histories and local histories. Additionally, there are more than 250 primary-source documents such as tax lists, city directories, probate records and more. It also includes Periodical Source Index (PERSI), Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, the Freedman’s Bank Records, and the U.S. Serial Set Private Relief Actions, Memorials and Petitions. (NOTE: This database replaces Ancestry Plus).

Informe’ - Spanish language journal articles database. Most articles are available in full text. “Una colección de revistas hispánicas con textos completos. Abarca negocios, salud, tecnología, cultura, temas de actualidad y otras materias.” (NOTE: Replaces ClasePeriodica.)

Hand Press Book - The Hand Press Book Database is a unique and growing catalog of European printing in the early modern era or “hand-press period” (15th century to the 1830s). This resource integrates descriptive records for major European national, university and research library holdings. It is especially valuable for research in intellectual history, social history and transmission of thought—as well as the history of printing and the history of the book.

HSTM: History of Science, Technology & Medicine - HSTM integrates four premier tools (Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science, Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza and citations from the Wellcome Library) to create an international bibliography for the history of science, technology and medicine. It reflects the influence of these fields on society and culture from prehistory to the present and offers outstanding value for interdisciplinary research. Database records describe journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews and dissertations in all scientific disciplines and related fields. Citations reflect the contents of nearly 9,500 journals.

NoveList - Readers’ advisor resource. Helps to find fiction books. Search by author, title, series, plots, or even books like the one you just finished. Browse lists of award winners, lists of genres, and lists based on age. Create and save lists of your own favorites. Find book discussion guides and more.

SCIPIO: Art and Rare Book Sales Catalogs - This database provides bibliographic access to auction sales catalogs from all major North American and European auction houses as well as private sales—valuable sources of information on the provenance of art objects and rare books, the history of collection, and contemporary and historical market trends.

SIRS Renaissance - Provides dynamic information on the following topics: architecture and design, culture, literature, multimedia, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion, and visual arts. Full-text articles are selected from more than 1,200 domestic and international publications. Many articles are accompanied by full-color images, including art reproductions, photographs, and illustrations.

Links for all of these resources can also be found on the Library's Online Databases page.

EndNote Classes in the Library

2007-09-18T10:03:00.000-05:00

We will be presenting several Introduction to EndNote classes in the Library (Mudd 210) for interested students, faculty and staff. The classes will be held:

Wednesday, September 26 from noon - 1:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 27 from noon - 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2 from 11:00 a.m. - noon

If you are interested in attending one of these sessions, please email Mike Van Houten or call ext. 0293.

The EndNote software can be loaded on any College-owned computer, and allows you to:

- Maintain a database of references to books, journal articles, websites, and other resources;
- Download complete bibliographic references from online databases and electronic journals;
- Insert references from EndNote into word-processed documents with the click of a mouse;
- Generate a bibliography/literature cited section in the correct style (MLA, APA, etc.), whether for a class assignment or for publication in a journal. EndNote 10 currently supports more than 1,000 bibliographic and journal-specific styles.

New Link for the Bibliography of the History of Art

2007-09-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

As planned, the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) database has now been moved from RLG/Eureka to the OCLC FirstSearch platform. Click here to access to BHA at its new address.

You can also find this link on the Library's Online Databases page.

New Special Collections Exhibit - 70 Years of Friendship: Philip C. Curtis, '30, and Russell B. Babcock, '27

2007-09-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

Mudd Learning Center Level 3, Special Collections
September 4-December 7, 2007

In honor of the Bobbitt Visual Arts Center exhibition Philip C. Curtis, '30: Sound and Silence, Special Collections has put together an exhibit featuring some of the archival materials used by the students in art history professor Bille Wickre's fall 2006 American Surrealism seminar. Wickre's students performed research in the Russell Babcock Collection of the College Archives, in addition to collections held by the Philip C. Curtis Trust and the Curtis family, to write numerous essays for the exhibition's accompanying catalogue.

The materials in "70 Years of Friendship" attempt to convey the bond between artist Philip C. Curtis and Russell Babcock, one of Curtis' closest friends and greatest supporters, while documenting their individual accomplishments as well. Items in the exhibit include publications, photographs, artifacts, correspondence and images of Curtis' art that span the seven decades of their relationship, including their time together at Albion College.

The exhibit is available during library hours in the display cases outside of Special Collections on the third floor of the Mudd Learning Center for the fall 2007 semester. We hope that you will stop by and take a look!

Questions? Contact the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Jennie Thomas at archives@albion.edu or 517/629-0487.

Library Hours for Labor Day Weekend

2007-08-30T15:29:00.000-05:00

The Library hours for the Labor Day weekend are:

Friday, Aug. 31 --- 8am - 5pm
Saturday, Sept. 1 --- 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 2 --- 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 3 --- 6 p.m. - 2 a.m.

The Library's full academic year calendar is here.

Have a great holiday!

Business and Company Resource Center Database now available

2007-08-07T10:20:00.000-05:00

Business and Company Resource Center is a fully integrated resource bringing together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

Periodicals Archive Online Added to the Library's Holdings

2007-07-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

Using Mellon grant funding, the Library has recently purchased online access to the backfiles of a number of journals through Periodicals Archive Online (PAO). PAO is a collection of digitized, full-image articles from 36 scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences, published from 1850 to 1995. This historical collection expands research opportunities, and is available both on campus and remotely to all Albion College students, faculty, and staff. It serves as a permanent archive, with access to the full contents of every title, from cover to cover.

Access to the collection is through this link.

The titles included in our purchase are:

Adolescence - Vols. 1-30, 1966-1995
American Behavioral Scientist - Vols. 4-38, 1960-1995
PROD: Political Research, Organization and Design - Vols. 1-3, 1957-1960
American Jewish History - Vols. 68-83, 1978-1995
American Jewish Historical Quarterly - Vols. 51-67, 1962-1978
Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society - Vols. 1-50, 1893-1961
Behavioral Science - Vols. 1-40, 1956-1995
Central European History - Vols. 1-28, 1968-1995
Classical Bulletin - Vols. 1-71, 1925-1995
Columbia Journalism Review - Vols. 1-34, 1961-1996
Contemporary Review - Vols. 1-267, 1866-1995
Harper’s - Vols. 253-291, 1976-1995
Harper's Magazine - Vols. 179-253, 1939-1976
Harper's Monthly Magazine - Vols. 102-178, 1900-1939
Harper's New Monthly Magazine - Vols. 1-101, 1850-1995
Hudson Review - Vols. 1-48, 1948-1996
Journal of Educational Research - Vols. 1-88, 1920-1995
Journal of Ethnic Studies - Vols. 1-19, 1973-1992
Journal of Popular Film - Vols. 1-6, 1972-1978
Journal of Popular Film and Television - Vols. 7-23, 1978-1996
Journal of the History of Philosophy - Vols. 1-33, 1963-1995
Journal of Women's History - Vols. 1-7, 1989-1995
Literary Review - Vols. 1-39, 1957-1995
Medium aevum - Vols. 1-64, 1932-1995
Modern Age - Vols. 1-37, 1957-1995
Oceania - Vols. 1-66, 1930-1995
Philological Quarterly - Vols. 1-74, 1922-1995
Philosophical Studies - Vols. 1-80, 1950-1995
Philosophy Today - Vols. 1-39, 1957-1995
Policy Review - Vols. 1-74, 1977-1995
Public Interest - Vols. 1-121, 1965-1995
Renascence - Vols. 1-48, 1948-1996
Review of Metaphysics - Vols. 1-48, 1947-1995
Studies in American Fiction - Vols. 1-23, 1973-1995
Studies in the Novel - Vols. 1-27, 1969-1995
Virginia Quarterly Review - Vols. 1-71, 1925-1995

New Database - The Bibliography of the History of Art

2007-07-11T08:44:00.000-05:00

The Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) has been added to the Library's collection of databases. "BHA is the world's most comprehensive bibliography of scholarly writing about the history of Western art from late antiquity to the present. Broad in scope, BHA encompasses fine arts—painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, and architecture—as well as decorative and applied arts—crafts, graphic arts, folk, and popular art. BHA indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, exhibition and dealers' catalogs and articles from thousands of periodicals in many languages. This database includes and extends the coverage of its two predecessor art indexes: RAA (Repertoire d'Art et d'Archéologie) from 1973 to 1989 and RILA (International Repertory of the Literature of Art) from 1975 to 1989. The BHA is produced jointly by the Getty Research Institute and the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST) and is distributed by RLG, a not-for-profit organization of libraries, archives, and museums." Access is currently through this link, but will be changing to the FirstSearch platform in August 2007.

New Collection of Elsevier Science Journals Available

2007-07-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

686 science journals were added to the Library's electronic journals collection through our new subscription to Elsevier's Physical Sciences Collection. Our holdings for each title include the most recent 12 full years, plus the current year.

Access is through this link:

http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.library.albion.edu/science/journals/subscribed/all

We will be adding records to our online catalog for these titles, and will also include them in Full Text Finder, our full-text linking service (http://0-wm6sn7rt5y.search.serialssolutions.com.library.albion.edu/).

Join Us for Poetry Fest 2007!

2007-04-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

Help us celebrate National Poetry Month and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 200th Birthday!

Please join us at the Library's Poetry Fest this Wednesday, April 18, 3 p.m. in the Library's Wendell Will Room. Audience members are invited read from their own or a favorite writer's poetry. Also enjoy delectable refreshments and multi-prize drawings!

For more information, please contact Marion Meilaender at 629-0499 or Mmeilaender@albion.edu

Library Open 24 Hours During Final Exams

2007-04-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

In response to student requests, the Library will be open 24 hours each day during finals. We will begin 24 hour access on Friday night, May 4th (Reading Day). The Library will open at 8 am (our normal time) on Friday, May 4th, and we will stay open continuously until 5 pm on Wednesday, May 9th. Both buildings will be open, but please note that a College ID card will be required for access after midnight each night.

The owner of Real Coffee (from the Books & More bookstore downtown) plans to be here selling coffee and smoothies for a few hours (probably 10 pm to 1 or 2 am) on Friday, Sunday, and Monday nights.

We have never been open 24 hours before, so this is something of an experiment for us. We'll consider making this a permanent part of our schedule if it seems to be well received.

History E-Book Project Becomes Humanities E-Book Project

2007-03-14T07:39:00.000-05:00

As of Jan. 1, 2007, the History E-Book Project began its transition to become the Humanities E-Book Project. "The new name reflects changes in the scope and function of the collection as it expands into more humanities fields and multidisciplinary area studies." The Library's subscription to the E-Book Project allows Albion students and faculty access to the complete collection, which now contains more than 1,500 full text books. More than 300 books are added to the collection each year. Among the most recent additions are 66 titles in Women's Studies. Access will remain through the current link until July 2007, when the new web site will be completely functional (you can take an advance look here). A list of the books included in the collection is available. In addition, we are adding records for all of these books to the Library's catalog (most are already in the Catalog).

New Wiki Encyclopedia Looking For Authors

2007-01-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

Citizendium is a new wiki encyclopedia project that hopes to develop a scholarly and reliable online encyclopedia, under the control of experts. According to Citizendium's Statement of Fundamental Policies, "The ultimate goal of the Citizendium community, a global group of collaborators, is to create the most reliable and largest encyclopedia that they can." Like Wikipedia, any Web user will be allowed to edit content, "but experts with "the qualifications typically needed for a tenure-track academic position" would be authorized to override any alterations." All contributers to the encyclopedia must sign their work, using their real names.

On January 24th, the founders announced that article authors and editors are now being sought. The encyclopedia is not yet available for public use. To read more about Citizendium, see this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education

Need Research Help Fast?

2007-01-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

Do you need research help, but can’t get to the library? Try Meebo, our new Instant Message (IM) research assistance service. Meebo is a browser-based instant messaging service that does not require you to create an account with AIM, Yahoo, or any other IM provider.

From the main library page, click the “Need Research Help?” link. If a librarian is online you can get real-time assistance by entering your question in the Meebo text box. You can chat--anonymously, if you prefer--with a librarian during our regular reference desk hours:

Monday - Friday:
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Sunday:
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

If for any reason a librarian is not available, you can send us your question using the E-mail form on the same page, and we will respond to you as quickly as possible.

Library Adds AnthroSource Database

2007-01-22T08:09:00.000-05:00

AnthroSource has been added to the Library's collection of databases. AnthroSource was developed by the American Anthropological Association, and is “the premier online resource serving the research, teaching, and professional needs of anthropologists”. AnthroSource provides online full text access to current and back issues of 15 of the American Anthropological Association’s peer-reviewed publications, and includes an electronic archive containing more than 100 years of anthropological material online in full text for all of the Association’s 31 journals, newsletters and bulletins. The entire database can be searched by author, keyword(s), and phrase.

AnthroSource uses CrossRef to dynamically link literature cited to full text articles (where available) that are found elsewhere in this database, or in JSTOR.

Also available are customized email alerts, providing timely notification about topics you are researching, or providing tables of contents information for new journal issues when they are added to the database. If you would like to sign up for AnthroSource alerts, follow the “My Profile” link on the left hand side of the AnthroSource homepage. You will need to register in order to sign up for the alert service.

Google Book Search Adds Another Library

2007-01-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

The University of Texas at Austin has joined the University of Michigan and 8 other academic libraries in adding scanned books to the Google Book Search database. According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "the books to be scanned include a number of titles from the university's celebrated archive on Latin American history and culture".

A Wikipedia for Scholars

2007-01-12T09:02:00.000-05:00

Scholarpedia is the latest entry in the wiki-encyclopedia market. The focus of this new resource is much narrower than Wikipedia...currently it only covers neuroscience and computational intelligence. Editorial control over articles in Scholarpedia will be maintained by a Curator, and all articles are peer-reviewed. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a short article, as does the if:book blog.

New Thomas search engine

2007-01-09T14:32:00.000-05:00

The Library of Congress has released a beta version of the new Thomas, a search engine for federal legislation and related documents. There are new search features and more
help for those unfamiliar with searching for federal legislation. Read more here.

Search Engine Overlap? Not So Much...

2007-01-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

Greg Notess (of Search Engine Showdown) provides a screencast that demonstrates the importance of using more than one search engine when conducting research. As it turns out, Google isn't always the best search engine to use. Greg's site is a great resource for search engine tips, comparisons, and features.

Academic Ebooks Take the Next Step

2006-12-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

The ACLS History E-Book Project has published two new electronic books that incorporate sound and video. The two works are Wonder Shows: Science, Religion, and Magic on the American Stage by Fred Nadis (http://library.albion.edu/search~S1/t?SEARCH=wonder+shows), and Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music, 1850s-1920s (http://library.albion.edu/search~S1/t?SEARCH=yellowface) by Krystyn Moon.

The Nadis book incorporates several short films that document the American fascination with the wonders of science and technology. Moon's book uses a series of complete musical performances that accompany the sheet music and analysis.

Ask.com better than Google?

2006-12-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

The LibrarianInBlack thinks so. Her Ten Reasons Librarians Should Use Ask Instead of Google explains it all.

Need help locating materials in the Library?

2006-12-18T10:53:00.000-05:00

If so, help is here. Thanks to a great deal of hard work by Michelle Gerry, Systems Librarian, locations listed in the Library Catalog are links to floor plans. For a great example of this, take a look at the record for the Merck Index here: http://library.albion.edu/search~S1/t?SEARCH=merck+index

If you click on the locations listed for this resource (Permanent Reserve, Reference, and Stockwell 110), you will see floor plans for each, with the appropriate location highlighted in red. We hope that this will make finding materials in the Library much easier.

As always, please don't hesitate to ask at the Reference Desk or the Circulation Desk if you need assistance.